Diffusion and solubility of Au implanted into the AZ1350 photoresist

Abstract

In the present paper we report diffusion and solubility results for Au into the photoresist AZ1350. Au was implanted into AZ1350 films at very low energy (E=20keV) and fluences (Φ=1012 and 5×1012 Au/cm2). In this way the radiation damage introduced by the implantation process was minimized and cluster formation was avoided. Annealing was performed in the 150–300°C temperature range and the as implanted and thermal treated samples were analyzed using the Rutherford backscattering (RBS) technique. For the lowest implantation fluence the results have shown a regular atomic diffusion process characterized by an activation energy of Ea=640meV. Instead, for Φ=5×1012 Au/cm2 the diffusional mechanism has revealed the effects of the radiation damage. In addition solubility measurements indicate that the solubility limit at 250°C is of the order 0.3 at.%.